Flipper problem

[Marty Machine]

Excellent !! another PLUS for an AP member 

MM.

[ajlaird]

Years of exposure to electronics and then computers means I am not afraid to take things apart and fiddle - it helps!

[ajlaird]

Just another update - I am still having the occasional 'sticky flipper' problem on the RHS which I have nearly ironed out - this is a purely mechanical thing - when I changed the coil over I wasn't quite successful in putting everything back together how it came out. If I had another nut for the bolt I am using to replace the one that came out I think I would be on a winner. Might drop in to Bunnings or similar tomorrow to find one as I want this working for New Year's Eve. 

I have been playing it a bit and the RH ball eater (locker) stopped functioning correctly. The ball would go in, the eater would go down but it would come straight back up again and eject the ball (due to gravity). After some deductive logic I concluded it had to be the ball switch on the eater. Cleaning the switch contacts and bending the switch blades to ensure contact on the eater descent didn't help, so I bit the bullet and removed the eater from the playfield. Sure enough, one of the switch wires was loose - a re-solder means this is functioning perfectly now.

This game is a lot of fun to play, quite challenging really.

[Strangeways]

Sounds like you are learning as you go along - which is the best part of buying and maintaining your own machines.

[Marty Machine]

Great to see you getting "in there" and playing eliminating/proving faults & scenario's etc, well done.

As long as you're confident, go for it.
Of course, when in doubt, just shout out here, plenty of the boys will be happy to guide you from their own 20-30+ yrs experience 

If i had $1 for everytime it ended up being a loose wire or dodgy connector, i'd have $1000's hahahaha.
Well, actually, i wouldn't, coz i woulda bought another pin with that kinda money 

MM.

[Nug]

bunnings does not have fine american threads- you need to goto a bolt place (even then!)  get the right fastener, you maybe losing some torque due to slop in coil securing.

[ajlaird]

The bolt thing didn't quite work out how I was hoping - I am now thinking about replacing this with the correct linkage.

Anyway, after quite a few games the LHS flipper just died :( Initial trouble-shooting shows 60V available to coil at EOS; as the multimeter is digital I don't know how to measure the voltage during the stroke but something seems to happen. Just to check I tried resoldering the wiring to it but with no difference. Next step is to remove coil for ease of access and check diodes and resistance of coil - I think I will skip that for now and try another day!!

Happy New Year to all. I am guessing there is no-one sad enough to be reading this until tomorrow :)

[Strangeways]

The bolt thing didn't quite work out how I was hoping - I am now thinking about replacing this with the correct linkage.

Anyway, after quite a few games the LHS flipper just died :( Initial trouble-shooting shows 60V available to coil at EOS; as the multimeter is digital I don't know how to measure the voltage during the stroke but something seems to happen. Just to check I tried resoldering the wiring to it but with no difference. Next step is to remove coil for ease of access and check diodes and resistance of coil - I think I will skip that for now and try another day!!

Happy New Year to all. I am guessing there is no-one sad enough to be reading this until tomorrow :)

I'm here - albeit all on my lonesome 

We will get to the bottom of this issue - First you need to check the diodes on the coil and the ability of the plunger to move freely through the coil.

[Retropin]

nope - im still here - 1pm in Brisbane - had a cracker of a night in the games room

[ajlaird]

nope - im still here - 1pm in Brisbane - had a cracker of a night in the games room

Um, that is tomorrow!! I think you mean 1am...

[ajlaird]

OK, have removed the LHS coil from the machine. Diodes seem to be measuring correctly - ie no current flow one way, low resistance the other. I am not sure what the coil (Williams FL11630) should be measuring as there are two windings: one internet page says main winding should be 4R7, but doesn't give a reading for the secondary. Mine reads 5R5 and 163R respectively. Is this within tolerance?

By the way, there is no problem with the sleeve on this one as far as I can tell.

[Strangeways]

OK, have removed the LHS coil from the machine. Diodes seem to be measuring correctly - ie no current flow one way, low resistance the other. I am not sure what the coil (Williams FL11630) should be measuring as there are two windings: one internet page says main winding should be 4R7, but doesn't give a reading for the secondary. Mine reads 5R5 and 163R respectively. Is this within tolerance?

By the way, there is no problem with the sleeve on this one as far as I can tell.

I must of missed this update...

I guess you could check the resistance by temporarily removing the other coil wires and measuring the resistance of the coil as a direct comparison.

[ajlaird]

Well, went and bought a spare coil plus a couple of new plunger/link/crank assemblies - actually a rebuild kit. I knew the RHS was only going to work for me properly if I replaced it as I could not work out how to get it working as it was before I pulled it apart! So went the whole hog and got both sides at the same time. (Invested in some Novus products as well. And picked up the free rubber kit. Thanks, Mark!)

In the process of dismantling the LHS completely, I then realised the problem was the EOS contacts. Note on this machine the EOS contacts are normally closed. What I discovered was that in the normally closed position there was very poor to no contact being made. Appropriate bending of metal fixed the issue.

Anyway, all good practice. I now know how to replace flippers, once again managed to solder the correct wires to the coil, and then got to play the Mousin' Around! with the glass on - much quieter... and much fun. The kids are going to want to play this when they get back from some time away but I suspect they will find it pretty challenging.

And I finally cracked 9 million and was able to put my initials in.

I think I will replace the EOS switches next time I need to look under the playfield as the current ones are pretty dodgy.

[Strangeways]

Well, went and bought a spare coil plus a couple of new plunger/link/crank assemblies - actually a rebuild kit. I knew the RHS was only going to work for me properly if I replaced it as I could not work out how to get it working as it was before I pulled it apart! So went the whole hog and got both sides at the same time. (Invested in some Novus products as well. And picked up the free rubber kit. Thanks, Mark!)

In the process of dismantling the LHS completely, I then realised the problem was the EOS contacts. Note on this machine the EOS contacts are normally closed. What I discovered was that in the normally closed position there was very poor to no contact being made. Appropriate bending of metal fixed the issue.

Anyway, all good practice. I now know how to replace flippers, once again managed to solder the correct wires to the coil, and then got to play the Mousin' Around! with the glass on - much quieter... and much fun. The kids are going to want to play this when they get back from some time away but I suspect they will find it pretty challenging.

And I finally cracked 9 million and was able to put my initials in.

I think I will replace the EOS switches next time I need to look under the playfield as the current ones are pretty dodgy.

Whenever I buy a project or "as is" machine, I automatically assume the flippers need to be rebuilt. But it is almost a "given", that SOME parts will need to be replaced.. Even though it did end up being the EOS switches, the next "weakest" link may have given you issues. So a flipper rebuild kit was the best option imho. The game should play like new..